Rosealta & Stoney Creek Lodges (Camrose)

In September, we broke ground on our Rosealta Lodge expansion. We are well underway with the pilings for the foundation put in and construction started.

This 40-room addition will enable us to concentrate all of our Camrose lodge spaces in the one facility, and we hope to be finished by Spring 2016.

As of May 1, 2015 the few remaining residents have moved from Stoney Creek Lodge. We are now working with government to find another purpose for the facility.

 Parkland Manor Redevelopment (Rimbey)

This exciting new project is scheduled to start construction in mid to late summer and will eventually replace Parkland Manor.

The new project will be 80 rooms and will have an on-site kitchen, dining areas, activity spaces as well as space for support services such as Home Care; Berry Architecture from Red Deer have been engaged as the architects for the new project and will be starting their preliminary designs in the next month.

The 8 acre parcel of land for the new project was purchased by Ponoka County and has been generously donated to Rimoka Housing. This parcel will accommodate the new lodge and have the potential for future expansion.

The project is estimated to cost $15 million - 80% of the project costs will be covered by the Provincial and Federal Governments and 20% will be assumed by Rimoka Housing. The completion of the project is targeted for late 2017 or early 2018.

 Big Knife Lodge Expansion (Forestburg)

The Government of Canada & the Alberta Government are supporting the construction of 20 extra lodge rooms as part of the existing facility. When complete there will be 41 lodge rooms of various sizes as well as 10 apartments for independent living all under one roof. At the same time as this work is continuing we will be installing sprinklers in the existing building as well as other life safety enhancements.

Big Knife Lodge was originally built in 1986 and was a natural fit for expansion due to being newer with larger rooms, large common area, and wide hallways.

The contracts for Architects and Construction Management have been awarded and we expect work to commence in the summer with completion expected by the late summer of 2016.

 Flagstaff Lodge Redevelopment (Sedgewick)

We conducted an in-depth analysis of the lodge in Sedgewick to investigate several options for a sustainable future. The work involved to upgrade the existing structure would be too extensive and disruptive to be a feasible opportunity. We also considered to replace the building entirely but the overall cost could not justify the debt load we would have to carry and maintain a stable tax requisition base.

The decision to add an option for seniors to replace the old lodge in Sedgewick has been centered on developing a new 10-suite facility with enhanced common space, similar to the “Manors” in other communities. This facility will allow residents to live with more independence and ‘age–in-place’ with the additional assistance of community supports.

We believe we can build this facility on the same site as Flagstaff Lodge without too much disruption to the existing residents and we hope to start construction late this year. The Architects have been chosen and will soon start the initial design drawings for this new building.

 Wetaskiwin Housing Project (Wetaskiwin)

In Spring 2014, we began construction on a new 38-apartment addition to The Bethany Group’s DSL3 facility, Wetaskiwin Meadows. The seniors’ affordable housing facility is expected to open August/September 2015 and we already have many people ready to move in.